Journal of the New York Botanical Garden

VOL. X X X V I I OCTOBER, 1936 No. 442
JOURNAL
OF
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
LINDENS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
AND ITS VICINITY
LEON CROIZAT
PALMS AS INDICATORS OF THE MAXIMUM
WATER LEVEL
JOHN K. SMALL
THE ALPHONSO WOOD HERBARIUM
H. H. RUSBY
A BISECTED TREE WHICH FLOURISHES
PLANTING NOW FOR SPRING GARDENS
ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM
A GLANCE AT CURRENT LITERATURE
CAROL H. WOODWARD
NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT
REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS
INTO THE GREEN GROWING FOREST
W. H. CAMP
RAFINESQUE AND HIS FRIENDS
J. H. BARNHART
SEEDS— AND FRUITS
CAROL H. WOODWARD
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY T H E N E W YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
BRONX PARK, N E W YORK, N. Y. ( FORDHAM BRANCH POST OFFICE)
Entered at the Post Office in New York, N. Y., as second- class matter.
Annual subscription $ 1.00 Single copies 10 cents
Free to members of the Garden
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
B O A R D OF MANAGERS
I. ELECTIVE MANAGERS
Until 1937: HENRY DE FOREST BALDWIN ( Vice- president), CHILDS FRICK,
ADOLPH LEWISOHN, HENRY LOCKHART, JR., D. T. MACDOUGAL, and JOSEPH
R. SWAN.
Until 1938: L. H. BAILEY, MARSHALL FIELD, MRS. ELON HUNTINGTON
HOOKER, JOHN L. MERRILL ( Vice- president and Treasurer), COL. ROBERT H.
MONTGOMERY, H. HOBART PORTER, and RAYMOND H. TORREY.
Until 1939: ARTHUR M. ANDERSON, HENRY W. DE FOREST ( President),
MARSHALL A. HOWE ( Secretary), CLARENCE LEWIS, E. D. MERRILL, HENRY DE
LA MONTAGNE ( Assistant Treasurer), and LEWIS RUTHERFURD MORRIS.
II. EX- OFFICIO MANAGERS
FIORELLO H. LAGUARDIA, Mayor of the City of New York.
ROBERT MOSES, Park Commissioner.
HENRY C. TURNER, President of the Board of Education.
III. APPOINTIVE MANAGERS
TRACY E. HAZEN, appointed by the Torrey Botanical Club.
R. A. HARPER, SAM F. TRELEASE, EDMUND W. SINNOTT, and MARSTON T.
BOGERT, appointed by Columbia University.
G A R D E N STAFF
MARSHALL A. HOWE, P H . D., SC. D Director
H. A. GLEASON, P H . D Deputy Director and Head Curator
HENRY DE LA MONTAGNE Assistant Director
JOHN K. SMALL, P H . D., SC. D Chief Research Associate and Curator
A. B. STOUT, P H . D Director of the Laboratories
FRED J. SEAVER, P H . D., SC. D Curator
BERNARD O DODGE, P H . D Plant Pathologist
FORMAN T. MCLEAN, M. F., P H . D Supervisor of Public Education
JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A. M., M. D.. . Bibliographer and Admin. Assistant
PERCY WILSON Associate Curator
ALBERT C. SMITH, P H . D Associate Curator
SARAH H. HARLOW, A. M Librarian
H. H. RUSBY, M. D Honorary Curator of the Economic Collections
FLEDA GRIFFITH Artist and Photographer
ROBERT S. WILLIAMS Research Associate in Bryology
E. J. ALEXANDER Assistant Curator and Curator of the Local Herbarium
HAROLD N. MOLDENKE, P H . D Assistant Curator
W. H. CAMP, P H . D Assistant Curator
CLYDE CHANDLER, A. M Technical Assistant
ROSALIE WEIKERT Technical Assistant
CAROL H. WOODWARD, A. B Editorial Assistant
THOMAS H. EVERETT, N. D. HORT Horticulturist
G. L. WITTROCK, A. M Docent
OTTO DEGENER, M. S Collaborator in Hawaiian Botany
ROBERT HAGELSTEIN Honorary Curator of Myxomycetes
ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM. . Honorary Curator, Iris and Narcissus Collections
WALTER S. GROESBECK Clerk and Accountant
ARTHUR J. CORBETT Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds
A. C. PFANDER Assistant Superintendent
JOURNAL
OF
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
VOL. XXXVII OCTOBER, 1936 Xo. 442
LIXDENS IX THE CITY OF XEW YORK
AXD ITS VICINITY
To the writer's knowledge, fourteen different lindens are
planted or grow native in X'ew York City and its vicinity. The
list of hardy woody plants in The New York Botanical Garden
published in 1920 recorded only three species and four varieties.
Today not less than eight species, or hybrids, thrive in the Garden.
The red linden ( Tilia- rubra), often said not to be in cultiva­tion,
is well represented in the parks, thoroughfares, and gardens
of our city, with numerous specimens not less than fifty years
old. Two varieties of it are cultivated in The New York Botanical
Garden. One, ( T. rubra begoniaefolia), which is seldom if ever
planted ( FIGURE 1), closely agrees with the begonia- leaf linden
( T. begoniacfolia Stev.), originally reported from the Caucasus
and considered by some authors to be a very distinct form of the
red linden. This tree has a firm dark- green leaf which, except for
its size, suggests the leaf of certain basswoods. The other variety
which, from the insufficient data to be gathered on this diffi­cult
species, may be understood as belonging to the type
itself, is commonly seen. Its leaves are yellowish- green,
usually cut heart- wise at the base, and often barely distinguish­able
from the leaves of the common European linden (" T. vul­garis"
of most texts), of which a young specimen thrives in the
Garden. Mature trees of the red and of the common European
linden grow side by side along Riverside Drive between 97th and
99th Streets, and there it can easily be shown that they are not
the same " species." Evidence to this effect may be welcome be­cause
many horticulturists and some botanists believe the contrary
to be true.
Both the red and the common European linden are thrifty trees
but thrive best where moisture is fairly well supplied. Few plants
225
226
are more beautiful than these lindens if set in suitable ground,
as, for instance, in a cool lawn. The common European linden,
particularly, has found the key to a secret that not many trees
have succeeded in learning. It displays a crown that is heavy
and light at the same time, being able to achieve this combination
of opposites because the main branches are built up in fairly even
tiers, arching gracefully and carrying at the tip neat, thick sprays
of dark- green leaves, lying mostly in the same plane and reaching
up and down.
The hairy linden ( Tilia platyphyllos), like the red linden, hails
from Europe and resembles it in sharpness of venation, but is
easily identified by the hairy leaves and by the hard, ribbed fruits.
T. platyphyllos is used more extensively than its thriftiness war­rants,
at least in cities. It cuts a good figure and, indeed, is a
noble tree where the soil is rich and well drained and moisture is
abundant. Dry weather and insufficient watering, however, cause
it to shed its leaves, and the majority of trees in the congested
areas of the city are nearly bare in late August. A specimen of
a cut- leaf variety is cultivated in the Garden. Seeing the tree
one understands why the variety is seldom used in planting. The
jagged blade looks unhealthy, and does not rival even distantly the
elegant leaf of a laciniate maple or beech.
The " Stein- Linden" of the Germans, the small- leaved linden
of early British authors ( T. cordata), is a native of northern
Europe, and there to all appearances an age- old migrant from
Asia. It is one of the commonest, if not the commonest of lindens
in cultivation, and the trade is so well stocked that it is inclined
to supply this even when not requested. The leaf of T. cordata
is small, somewhat square- sided, seldom more than 3 inches long,
mostly bluish underneath, and hairless except for brownish woolly
tufts at the forks of the veins. The small- leaved linden bears many
flowers and large crops of fruits in clusters that tend to lie hori­zontally,
and persist often until late in winter. This habit, com­bined
with the green or yellow buds that contrast with the reddish-brown
color of the tip of the twig, easily identify the species in
its leafless condition. Certain trees have a peculiar aspect on ac­count
of damages from frost. The trunk cracks, and in time stout
limbs often flattened at the sides grow from the wound. An old
tree so damaged stands in Prospect Park, east of the drive at the
foot of the Quaker Cemetery.
227
^ Br^ lsl J949J iPI
W& A
M^ TM
^ USK^ IH
FIGURE 1. 77/ m rubra bcgoniacfolia, growing at The New York Botanical
Garden. This rare tree agrees with the true T. bcgoniacfolia, which has
been described from the Caucasus.
Tilia cordata has been crossed with the hairy linden and with
the red linden. As a result two hybrids have originated and are
on the market: the common European linden (" 7\ vulgaris"), of
which we have spoken, and the glossy linden ( T. cuchlora). In
nine cases out of ten the glossy linden is mistaken for the red
linden, but the confusion has no justification. The two trees are
distinct at least in the color of the bark, also in the aspect and
texture of the leaf. The leaf of the red linden has sharp veins,
an even crisp surface, and woolly tufts. The leaf of the glossy
linden has a marked shine ( hence the common name), bristle- like
tufts, finely etched veins, and in almost all cases an uneven sur­face.
In the glossy linden the bark is generally lighter or much
228
lighter than in the red linden and grayish rather than reddish-brown.
T. cuchlora is not represented in the Garden, but is not
rare in public parks and in gardens, and bobs up in all manner of
surroundings in Prospect Park. The best specimen in the city, if
the writer be correct, thrives half concealed by the horsechestnuts
and the Paulownias just south of the George Washington Bridge
on Riverside Drive. The glossy linden does not succeed in dry,
poor soil: the two sorry trees that were planted before 1903 at
the entrance of Central Park at West 96th Street are left at mid-
August with few if any leaves, and have grown yearly by only
fractions of inches.
The basswood ( 7\ americana) requires but passing mention.
Everybody has seen it wild and planted, but not everyone realizes
how much its leaves can vary. Some trees exhibit large blades
that are yellow- green and easily torn to shreds; other trees have
small, dark- green, firm blades. Although the leaf of the species
has normally many small tufts and is otherwise hairless, certain
trees in Prospect Park have tuftless leaves, and one young speci­men
in Central Park shows sparse hairs not unlike those of
T. platyphyllos. In cultivation only the small- leaved form of the
basswood is satisfactory. The large- leaved form is ungainly and of
coarse aspect. In New Jersey the basswood has been used to
line avenues, but the planting looks more effective in June than in
August.
The gray linden ( T. neglecta) is closely related to the basswood,
and is another tree both native and planted in the Garden. The
gray linden deserves its common name but is manifestly distinct
from the basswood only when the leaf unfolds and shortly there­after.
At that time the blade is more or less thickly beset under­neath
by star- shaped and simple hairs ( the latter always less
numerous), which cause it to appear whitish or grayish. So little
hair, however, is left at the end of the summer that a magnifying
glass is needed to spot it. The fruit of the gray linden varies a
great deal, but is seldom as round and as hairy as that of the
basswood. The basswood and the gray linden have the same lim­ited
value in horticulture and may be considered equivalent. They
are always confused, in fact, with the result that the gray linden,
a species little known even to the botanist, is fairly common in the
parks of the City.
The gray linden, the bee- tree ( Tilia heterophylla) and Michaux's
229
linden ( T. Michauxii) may in a sense be considered forms of the
sam^ species. Michaux's linden is a gray linden with thicker
and more persistent hair and a rounder fruit. The bee- tree is a
Michaux's linden that has light brown tufts which appear when
the leaf unfolds or immediately thereafter. The limits of these
species are not clear. One may surmise that when our lands were
covered by glaciers creeping in from the north the ancestor, or
the ancestors, of the three lindens shuttled back and forth, and
underwent changes that in the long run scrambled all the char­acters
which the student of plant life is accustomed to look for in
" good" species. The bee- tree does not grow in the Garden, not at
least in the form true to the description given by Ventenat, the
" father" of T heterophylla. A good specimen of the species as
described by Ventenat stands at the south of Morningside Park,
close to the wall that runs along Cathedral Parkway. ( Morning-side
Park, by the way, deserves mention as the harbor of the
single true oriental plane, Platanus orientalis, that grows on public
grounds in New York City.) Three mature plants of Michaux's
linden manage to survive at Riverside Drive, about at the level of
103rd Street, and young specimens live in Central Park. Trees
which are probably wild are recorded for Fort Washington Park.
The so- called Moltke or greenish linden ( T. spectabilis), a
hybrid of the basswood with the silvery linden ( T tomentosa),
has tripped many an otherwise learned botanist. The difference
between the two must be acknowledged as trifling indeed, and to
be understood once forever it should be observed on trees that
grow side by side. The greenish linden has many qualities of the
silvery linden— the color of its leaf, its lack of tufts, its fruit; but
the influence of the basswood shows in everything. Thus the
blade is larger than in the silvery linden and is often cut slant­wise
at the base; the hair is scantier, the petiole is longer, the
flower and the fruit are not so small. The greenish linden is
fairly common in cultivation. About two dozen trees have been
used in Prospect Park, mostly near the greenhouse at Ninth
Street and Prospect Park West. One specimen stands in Central
Park almost facing the music stand on the Mall.
Two other hybrids of the basswood have been planted in the
parks of the City, but, like the greenish linden, neither is found
in the Garden. One. the flabby linden ( T flaccida) is the off­spring
of T americana and T. platyphyllos. The other, the flower-
230
ing linden ( 7". floribunda) arose in the combination of T. ameri­cana
with T. cordata.
The flabby linden openly acknowledges its mixed ancestry: it
resembles both its parents, and the horticulturist who plants it
learns in the long run that it has the drawbacks of both. Its habit
is irregular without being pleasing, its leaves are apt to fall early,
its resistance to drought is most limited. A few samples of this
linden, planted, it may be assumed, for T. americana, live in River­side
Park between the levels of 116th and 119th Streets, along
the walk at the foot of the retaining wall.
The flowering linden is a bird of different feather, a clean- cut
tree which, but for its weeping habit and large leaves, brings to
mind the red linden. Its flowers hang in long slender clusters,
and are about as large as those of the basswood and as dainty as
those of the small- leaved linden. Only one tree grows in Pros­pect
Park with the greenish lindens that are planted east of the
greenhouse mentioned above.
The silver linden ( Tilia tomentosa) and the silver weeping lin­den
( T. petiolaris) are found in the Garden in a group in which
two specimens of the former are the largest trees in the collection.
Both of these lindens are native of Europe, particularly of the
Balkans. The difference between them in the main is a matter of
the fruit and of the length of the petiole. The silver weeping
linden has a whiter, less pointed, less sharply ribbed fruit, and
petioles that are always longer than half the blade ( hence the
" weeping" habit of the leaves). Except for these points the two
species are very similar: in both the bark is smooth and grayish,
the blade dark- green above and silvery underneath, the young
growth more or less thickly covered by flat- lying, star- shaped
hairs.
Tilia tomentosa is extensively cultivated, and is one of the best
lindens for planting in cities. It is liable to injury from frost,
and the trunks of the majority of specimens in our part of the
country plainly show the bite of winter. The tree, however, is
never " killed" at the branches, anc! its resistance to drought fully
compensates for its tendency to being tender at the main stem.
Large silver lindens are standing near the Zoo and elsewhere in
Prospect Park.
Tilia petiolaris is unfortunately not common. Under cultivation
it is as reliable as T. tomentosa, and more graceful. Two superb
231
specimens thrive in Prospect Park, one in the small lawn west of
the Litchfield Mansion. Several otherwise good plants scattered
in Prospect and in Central Park have been spoiled by unintelli­gent
grafting: the stock is T. cordata or " T. vulgaris," which
grows less rapidly than the scion. With high grafts the trunks
are marred by unsightly rings, which easily could have been
avoided by budding low.
The Asiatic Lindens are practically unknown in our city. The
numerous Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Mongolian species will
contribute in time, no doubt, to the wealth of our collections and
to the beauty of our gardens. Several peculiar lindens found in
southern China are bound to be tender in our part of the country
but will thrive from the Carolinas to Florida and in California.
The linden knows four main foes: drought, the " red spider"
( Tetranichus tclarius), the black mildew ( fungi of the group
Fumago), and the Japanese beetle. The first two go hand in hand,
and can effectively be checked by irrigation and timely spraying.
The black mildew does little damage beyond soiling the leaves of
the trees it attacks. The Japanese beetle is hungry for lindens and
is increasingly assuming the status of a first- class menace. Nothing
promises to check the pest effectively except the so- called physio­logical
control, which so far does not seem to have been achieved.
Spraying with arsenate of lead still is a costly but necessary
protection.
LEOX CROIZAT.
PALMS AS INDICATORS OF THE MAXIMUM
WATER LEYEL
In southern flatwoods1 and about lakes and ponds where palms
grow, the cabbage- trees ( Sabal Palmetto) usually show a dense
encircling cushion of aerial roots about the base of the trunk. In
some cases this cushion is a few inches high, while in others it
may extend three feet or more up the trunk. A novice viewing
these objects is at a loss to account for the unusual root growth.
but to one accustomed to the peculiarities of such country the
solution is not difficult. The palm- trees do not normally grow in
the water, but are often in places where water rises and remains
about them during wet spells or flood periods. In times of dry
1 Flatwoods are nine woods where the water- table is constantly near the
surface of the ground or over the surface part of each year.
232
FICURE 1. The base of a cabbage- tree showing the aerial root- system, the
top of which indicates the maximum water level. The distance from the
tree's anchorage in the sand to the top of the root- base is between four and
five feet. The roots are aerial in dry weather, aquatic in high- water season.
233
FIGURE ' The base of a Louisiana palmetto�� Sabal Deeringiana— on the
shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Louisiana. The palm stands in a swale where
backwater from the lake and water from heavy rains stand for short periods.
The floodwaters remain long enough to encourage the palm to send out
a series of roots, the upper ones indicating the maximum water level.
234
weather one might well wonder about the origin of these dense
cushions of aerial roots encircling the palm trunks.
Some of the palms are vigorous growers. The cabbage- tree,
for example, responds rapidly to surrounding conditions, as well
as accommodating itself to almost any habitat, favorable or un­favorable.
Certain palms have, by their experiences through the
ages, acquired the ability to develop roots under little provocation.
So, when the water rises above the surface of the ground, the
palm in its desire to continue or accelerate its growth starts a new
set of roots at the base just beneath the temporary high water
level. The roots come out in great numbers and are packed to-
FIGURE 3. The lower part of a trunk and part of the root- system of a
fossil palm— Palmoxylon sp.-— from near Natchitoches, Louisiana. Curiously
enough, this specimen shows that the same habit of developing adventitious
roots existed among the Louisiana palms in geologic times.
235
gether very tightly. They are exceedingly tough cord- like or rope­like
structures, each with a thimble- like protective cap at the apex.
When the water recedes for a time this mass of roots is exposed
to the air and resembles a cushion with myriad nipples. With the
next flooding the roots become active and add growth to the former
accumulation.
An examination will show that the cushions extend higher on
the trunks that stand in the lowest spots. Should an observer be
present during a high water period he will notice that the water
reaches exactly to the top level of all the cushions. So, it would
be quite evident that the root- cushions are the result of the palm
sending out short aerial roots during periods of floodwaters. To
build a house or make a garden below the level of the tops of
these root- cushions would obviously be a mistake— though many
builders, apparently, have never learned this lesson.
The figures from our collection of palm photographs illustrate
the condition involved. The cabbage- tree ( Sabal Palmetto) in
FIGURE 1 is on the shore of Lake Okeechobee, Florida. The fluc­tuation
of the lake- level is often great, being caused indirectly by
the rains in the drainage basin and the damming up of the outlets.
The cushion of roots in this case indicates about four feet in
height. The Louisiana palm ( Sabal Deeringiana) in FIGURE 2 is
on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. The fluctuation
here is not great and is the direct result of rains over and about
the lake.
Louisiana in past geological times had a much larger palm flora
than it has at present. About six species of fossil palms have been
described from within the limits of the state. The palms in those
ancient times had the same habit of producing aerial roots, as is
evidenced by the fossil specimen shown in FIGURE 3. This is a
pretty close duplication of the base of the living species shown in
FIGURE 2. The fossil palms in Louisiana are found largely in the
northwestern part of the state.
JOHN K. SMALL.
THE ALPHONSO WOOD HERBARIUM
Few botanists are now living whose early studies were pursued
under the influence of Wood's " Class Book of Botany.'' largely
used in the seventies, when I began my work. This was emphati­cally
the work of a field botanist, for Dr. Wood was indefatigable
236
as a collector. He was also an active correspondent, and ex­changed
with nearly all the botanical collectors of his time.
Becoming professor of botany in the College of Pharmacy of the
City of New York, he secured time and facilities for carrying on
his botanical work that he would not otherwise have had.
On one occasion, when I spent the afternoon in his company,
he gave me an account of the circumstances and considerations
that led him to undertake the writing of his book. It is sufficient
to say that his motive was not so much that of personal interest
as a feeling that the identities and relations of the plants discussed
were not being accurately presented in the books then in use, and
a desire to make them known as they appeared to him in the
living state.
When Dr. Wood died, he bequeathed his herbarium to the Col­lege
of Pharmacy, where it was greatly neglected for many years.
When the Canby Herbarium was purchased, many of Wood's
specimens were collected from drawers, closets, boxes and bun­dles,
where they had been scattered, and were placed in the Canby
cases. It was evident, however, that these specimens represented
but a part of the Wood Herbarium. Botanists who came to con­sult
them or who wrote for information were unable to find what
they were seeking and we received many expressions of disap­pointment.
Because of this obviously fragmentary state of the
Wood collection, no serious attempt was made to segregate and
arrange it until about two years ago, when we came, in an unex­pected
place, upon several cases containing specimens of this
collection. I then began the segregation and arrangement of the
entire Wood Herbarium, a work to which I have since devoted
my spare time. The classification and nomenclature have been
made to conform, for the most part, with that of the Canby
Herbarium, and the whole should be subjected to a process of
modernization.
By the present arrangement, all specimens of the Wood
Herbarium are enclosed in one or more covers at the end of the
genera to which they respectively belong, each cover bearing a
label, " Alphonso Wood Herbarium," in heavy capitals. The
genera in each family are arranged in alphabetical order, so that
any specimen can be found promptly. It is an unfortunate fact
that an occasional specimen that he is known to have collected
cannot be found.
237
During the progress of this work, some interesting facts have
come to light. The last important collecting done by Dr. Wood
seems to have been along the Pacific Coast and on his journey
there and back. He appears to have traveled with scanty facilities
for collecting, most of his specimens having been made as small as
completeness would permit ( some of them too small), but they
are well preserved and mostly characteristic. Comparatively few
of them are named, as his death occurred before he had an
opportunity for studying them. It is to be hoped that someone
familiar with the Pacific Coast flora will undertake the deter­mination
of this part of the collection. The same is to be said of
a considerable number of specimens from the mountains of Ken­tucky
and Tennessee.
It appears further, from the material that we find, that at the
time of his death, Dr. Wood was engaged in a number of special
studies, notably of Carex. He had collected these plants in heavy
duplication and appears to have been preparing them for ex­change
purposes. The same may be said of his collections of mosses.
H. H. RUSBY.
A BISECTED TREE WHICH FLOURISHES
A tree which bisected itself and lived to tell the tale has been
found on the grounds on the Astoria gas plant of the Consolidated
Edison Company of New York. With some 350 square inches
of heavy wire fence embedded in its trunk, this tree, reported to
be a slippery elm, continues to grow and flourish. The fence— a
cyclone type, nine feet high— also has withstood the unusual con­dition,
and stands as straight today as the day it was erected.
Some twelve to fifteen years ago the tip of the young tree in­serted
itself in one of the meshes of the fence. It looked like
arboreal suicide to observers. Undismayed by its wire entangle­ments,
however, the sapling continued to grow until today it stands
some 25 feet high. The distance from the point at which the
fence emerges from the trunk at the top to the place of emergence
at the bottom is approximately 30 inches. The tree is 17 inches
in diameter at the base. It grows up some 17 inches, then branches
into two sections. The trunk bisected by the fence is 12 inches
in diameter and the other is 7 inches. See the illustration on the
following page.
238
^ P^ BBSMBBBBBBBI
lini
/ ' I.' JJHBB^^ BHI
' i V f l B H
•#-> Wm
IH ^ gHp^ pi^
1 XJff ** V Jwfc> Tffl! 3I^ P3l
riEwanvEK
^ JCIAA'A**^! 1 HX* ji
ia* IH
9BI j) uv'^^ w'jaii T* i^ B^
HB ililff^
Hg BfBP » / v*' fc# SO
KBP&^ ERSP
B| / j j | j
Bi& kl!
A bisected tree which continues its growth without apparent injury at
Astoria, New York.
239
PLANTING NOW FOR SPRING GARDENS*
WITH A SELECTION OF GOOD NARCISSUS VARIETIES
Good gardeners consider several things when they plant, whether
it be bulbs, herbaceous plants, shrubs or just seeds. The most
important thing is what will grow well in the space available. First
we must see what kind of soil we have, how deep it is good, and
note the exposure; that is, whether it will be sunny, semi- shaded
or shaded and if there are adjacent trees. Large trees will naturally
shade the ground later in the season, but we can often put under
them some plants that will give pleasure early in the spring before
the leaves come out.
For this purpose some of the small bulbous plants such as
snowdrops ( Galanthus nivalis), the Siberian squill ( Scilla sibirica),
the snake's- head fritillary ( Fritillaria mcleagris), and winter-aconite
( Eranthis hyemails) may be combined with such ferns as
Christmas fern, which is green all winter; wild maiden- hair fern,
which comes up in springtime and dies down in autumn; epi­mediums,
low plants with heart- shaped leaves reddish on the
margins; or a sedum that will stand shade such as Sedum sannen-tosum.
These are all satisfactory under trees.
We will take it for granted that we have looked about our
gardens last spring, that we noticed where there were suitable
places for spring- flowering bulbs and that we have gone to the
spring flower shows and to specialists' gardens and made a record
of the varieties we desired to add and the quantities necessary. If
we are forehanded, we will have ordered the bulbs before the end
of June. They will probably be delivered to us at the end of
August. If we are not ready to plant them when they arrive, the
bags should be opened and set in a well- ventilated, dry place free
from rats or mice.
Daffodils and the various other small bulbs should be planted
as soon as possible after they come so they can make good root
growth before frost hardens the ground. In preparing the ground,
do not allow manure to be mixed with the soil so that it comes in
contact with the bulbs. I have found dried sheep manure good to
use. I dig the ground well and mix a handful of sheep manure
* An address given by the Honorary Curator of Iris and Narcissus Collec­tions
at The New York Botanical Garden, before the Radio Garden Club of
the Agricultural Extension Service, Rutgers University, over Station WOR,
September 11, 1936.
240
with the very bottom soil in a trench or patch— say two inches of
loosened soil. Then I add two inches of soil without manure, plac­ing
the bulbs on this, and I mix some wood- ashes with the top-soil
that covers the bulbs. This treatment is for exhibition bloom
or for very poor ground. In ordinary good garden soil I use no
fertilizer at all.
Regarding depth to plant, I might add that most bulbs must be
covered once and a half their own depth from the bottom of the
bulb to where the neck begins. Remember this rule and you will
have a safe guide, as bulbs vary in size. If you are planting the
very small ones, such as snowdrops, in a patch— and they look
best this way— take out the soil to the proper depth in the shape
patch you want and place the bulbs. Then cover them carefully
with the soil. You can scatter tiny bulbs, as they do not mind
being on their sides and will right themselves in a year's growth.
Tulips are best planted between the middle and the end of October.
Do not mulch bulbs until the surface of the ground is frozen
hard. This is to keep mice out. The mulch keeps the ground
frozen, then, all winter. It is for protection, and the best mulch
for bulbs is very well- rotted manure, because it acts as a fer­tilizer
as well. Lacking this, salt hay is good. Some people use
excelsior. When leaves are used, they must not be very thick.
Make a simple rough plan of where you have put your bulbs and
keep this plan where you can find it easily next spring; then bring
it out and label the plants. Labels put in beds in autumn get
broken or lost under the mulch or heaved out by frost.
In choosing bulbs try to know the varieties you want, and buy
from well- known, reliable dealers so that you will get things true
to name. Spend your money on a few good varieties rather than
on a lot of trash which you will be throwing away later on. This
is especially necessary with daffodils. Nothing repays the gardener
more than a few of the better varieties. A good selection would
comprise some trumpet varieties— white, bi- colored, and yellow;
some short- cupped— both all yellow and bi- colored ( yellow and
white or yellow with red or reddish cups) ; some flat- cupped vari­eties
of the various color groups; some of the white or Leedsii
group; some poeticus; some bunch- flowered; some double and
some smaller, shorter sorts for the front of the border or rock
garden.
There are many types, heights, and sizes in the eleven groups
241
and their sub- divisions, making hundreds of varieties to select
from, so there is some variety suitable for everyone's taste and
purpose as well as for each pocketbook. Price, however, is based
on rarity, not on quality. One must try to know the good sorts
and get them, perhaps waiting a few years until a coveted gem
has increased enough in quantity to come down in price.
We all know the old trumpet variety, Emperor. This is still
good, and so is Olympia. King Alfred we see often at shows,
but Golden Harvest is better and more reliable, while Mme. van
Waveren is very large and satisfactory. A more dwarf pale-yellow
trumpet is Harvest Moon. This combined with a white or
lavender Phlox subulata or with forget- me- nots makes a delight­ful
picture. One of the earliest of the large, yellow- short- cupped
or incomparabilis daffodils is Helios. This and Henriette are both
excellent. For later, I like Lucinius and Wheel of Fortune, rich
gold and perfectly round flowers which hold their heads up nicely.
Orange Glow is one of the newer, more sensational daffodils
that repays an investment, as is Red Cross. Both of these are
very large flowers on tall stems, one with a frilly cup, the other
plain. Red Cross is good in the garden, as the color in the outer
petals ( the perianth) does not fade. Red- cupped varieties are
usually better if placed where there will be a little shade part of
the day, because our sun is so hot. Croesus, of the flat- cupped or
Barrii group, is still worth while. This is a pale yellow with the
cup flushed orange. In the flat section of the Leedsii a beauty is
Mitylene, which is a very good grower, increasing rapidly, as
nearly all the new kinds do. Tenedos is a handsome white giant
Leedsii.
My favorite double daffodil is Cheerfulness, which comes late
and is white and yellow, always blooming well. There is another
startling double called Mary Copeland, white with red center, a
huge flower on a long stem, and there is a double white named
Daphne that blooms better than the old gardenia- flowered variety.
There are hardy bunch- flowered sorts, but those we see in the
stores for forcing in water are usually kinds that would not stand
our New York winters. Haemon, white and yellow; Thalia, white ;
Fair Alice, golden, and February Gold, a deep gold, are fine. These
are all short, not more than 14 inches high at most.
Whether it be daffodils or crocuses, scillas, tulips or hyacinths,
always feel the bulbs to see if they are firm. Should any be soft
242
or slimy, burn them. They would not grow anyway, and they
might bring disease into your garden. Do not buy mixed bulbs.
The effect will be bad, for they will not all bloom at the same time.
Plant in groups or drifts, trying to get a definite effect and
planning it beforehand. What is planted in autumn is done with
hope and imagination of spring pleasure; in fact, all gardening
has this basis and the results are a thousand unexpected joys.
ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM.
A GLANCE AT CURRENT LITERATURE*
Daffodil enthusiasts who are interested in the foreign varieties
which may be made available in this country before long will wel­come
the report of the trial gardens of the Royal Horticultural
Society at Wisley, England. While the behavior of plants in
England does not necessarily indicate what they may be expected
to do in America, the descriptions give a fair evaluation of each
variety over a three- year period. The report appears under the
title, " Narcissi at Wisley, 1934- 36," in the July Journal of the
Royal Horticultural Society.
* # *
The recent work of Dr. Michael Levine at Montefiore Hospital
in New York is explained in an article, " Plant Tumors and their
Relation to Cancer," appearing under his name in The Botanical
Review for September.
* * *
The results of a special study, conducted since 1921 on one of
the largest genera of orchids, has been recently published by the
Botanical Museum at Cambridge, Mass. It is " The Genus Epiden­druni
in the United States and Middle America" by Oakes Ames,
F. Tracy Hubbard, and Charles Schweinfurth. Two hundred
twenty- nine species of Epidendrum are designated.
* * *
" Native and Exotic Palms of Florida" is the title of Bulletin 84
of the Agricultural Extension Service at Gainesville, Florida. The
70 pages, prepared by Harold Mowry, are profusely illustrated.
* All publications mentioned here— and many others— may be found in the
Library of the Botanical Garden, in the Museum Building.
243
Her two- year adventure in locating wild dahlias in Uruapan,
Michoacan, Mexico, is told by Marion Storm in the May Bulletin
of the American Dahlia Society. Dahlia seeds which she sent to
The New York Botanical Garden two years ago produced flower­ing
plants in the dahlia border last year and again this fall. The
flowers are called " charahuscas" in Mexico, she says.
* * *
" Not more than three seed- pods should be allowed to ripen on
a plant," declares Isabella Preston in writing on " Growing Lilies
from Seed" in the September Flower Grower. Miss Preston is
a specialist at the Dominion Central Experiment Farms in Ottawa.
Canada.
In the 1936 Yearbook of Agriculture of the United States De­partment
of Agriculture, which contains 1.200 solidly printed
pages, a bird's- eye view is given of the Government's work in
plant breeding, notably with wheat, barley, oats, rice, corn, sor­ghum,
sugar- cane, sugar beets, cotton, flax, and tobacco.
* * *
" A Study of the Soil" by G. R. Clarke of the University of
Oxford is a miniature volume of 142 pages, describing how a
scientific study of the soil of a given site is made.
CAROL H. WOODWARD.
NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT
The collection of plants of Hainan, sent to The New York
Botanical Garden by Sun Yatsen University, China, for identifica­tion
by Dr. E. D. Merrill when he was Director here, has now
been divided into 15 sets, numbering from 900 to 1,500 speci­mens
each, which are being sent out in exchange to institutions in
many other parts of the world. Dr. Merrill completed the naming
of the specimens on week- end visits to New York after com­mencing
his new work at Harvard University.
* * *
Dr. Lewis E. Wehmeyer of the University of Michigan spent
several days recently in the Mycological Herbarium of The New
York Botanical Garden studying certain groups of fungi.
244
Stopping in New York on their way back to England, Will
Ingwersen and J. R. G. Drake, horticulturists and plant collectors,
visited the Botanical Garden after a trip through western United
States.
Another recent visitor to the Garden was Samuel Higbee Camp
of Jackson, Mich., who has been in New York exhibiting the
" transparent woman" at the Museum of Science and Industry in
Rockefeller Center. Forty years ago, Mr. Camp was an occasional
contributor to botanical literature, and his works are contained in
the Library of the Botanical Garden. He has a private herbarium
of 3,000 specimens, collected in Michigan and in places where he
has traveled.
The following visiting botanists have enrolled in the library dur­ing
the summer:
Dr. E. D. Merrill, Cambridge, Mass.; Mr. Don B. Creager,
Boston, Mass.; Dr. Gertrude S. Burlingham, Newfane, Vt.; Prof.
H. H. Whetzel and Mr. M. C Richards, Ithaca, N. Y.; Prof.
Edgar T. Wherry, Philadelphia, Pa.; Dr. Edward H. Graham,
Pittsburgh, Pa.; Prof. Orland E. White, University, Va.; Prof.
F. A. Varrelman, Prof. M. A. Raines and Dr. Miriam L. Bom-hard,
Washington, D. C; Air. John V Watkins, Gainesville, Fla.;
Prof. L. R. Hesler and Prof. Stanley A. Cain, Knoxville, Tenn.;
Dr. Ernst J. Schreiner, Norris, Tenn.; Dr. Dorothy Parker, Cin­cinnati,
Ohio; Prof. L. E. Wehmeyer, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Prof.
C Mervin Palmer, Indianapolis, Ind.; Mr. C Y. Chiao, Madi­son,
Wis.; Prof. H. E. McMinn, Oakland, Calif., and Dr. Frans
Verdoorn, Leyden, Holland.
Asiatic garden beetles are most effectively trapped by a blue
light inserted in a funnel containing four wings at right- angles
and leading to a glass jar from which the beetles cannot escape,
once they have fallen in. Where other bright lights interfere, a
G- 5 mercury vapor light, which requires a special socket, is found
most effective; otherwise a 100- watt blue daylight bulb will attract
the beetles, government investigators have recently reported.
245
A gold medal " For Service to Dahlia" was awarded to Dr. Mar­shall
A. Howe at the annual dinner of the American Dahlia Society
at the Pennsylvania Hotel September 23. The presentation was
made by George W. Fraser, president of the society.
* * *
Dr. Kiichi Miyake, professor of botany at the College of Agri­culture
of Tokyo Imperial University, Japan, spent September 25
at the Botanical Garden, after attending the Harvard Tercentenary
celebration. From 1900 to 1902 Dr. Miyake studied at Cornell
University, and visited this country again during 1910. Coining
by way of Europe on his present trip, he is returning to Japan
across the Pacific.
Dr. Frans Verdoorn, editor of Chronica Botanica, and also sec­retary
of the botanical section of the International Union of Bio­logical
Sciences, spent several days at the Garden during Septem­ber,
after nearly three months of motoring over the United States,
visiting bryological herbaria and meeting the American collabo­rators
of Chronica Botanica. He is returning to Holland this
month, after visiting botanical institutions in the eastern cities.
* * *
Henry Teuscher, who is now Superintendent and Chief Horti­culturist
of the Montreal Botanic Garden, returned to The New
York Botanical Garden for a few days in September. Frere
Marie- Victorin, Scientific Director of the Montreal Botanic Gar­den,
joined him here September 28, and the two returned almost
immediately to Montreal, carrying back many new plants for their
institution. This new botanical garden, which is being developed
according to plans drawn up by Mr. Teuscher, has recently had
an appropriation of $ 200,000 for the construction of roads, a
drainage system, and other features.
246
REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS
( All publications reviewed here may be consulted in the Library of
The New York Botanical Garden.)
INTO T H E GREEN GROWING FOREST
. . . " This is the story of man facing his world— man in his
nakedness, abstract curiosity glittering in his simian pupils as he
stares at the wall of the primeval wood and listens to its sounds,
and wonders." . . .
Donald Culross Peattie's latest book1— Green Laurels— is a
treatise on intellectual curiosity, yet it is so much more that it
defies pigeon- holing. It is not a series of biographies— fortunately;
for I am not interested in where Linnaeus spent the 16th day of
June in 1752; I want to know the man himself. Peattie has given
us such an insight, for he has not been content merely to give
us a description of Linneaus' field trips with his students, but has
taken us along, and for a brief time we are a part of the world of
Linnaeus, and think his thoughts; we stand with Bartram on the
banks of the Alatamaha2 and view for the first and last time in
the wild the almost fabulous Franklinia; we sit by the side of
Wallace that hot feverish night in Ternate when he dreamed the
dreams that prodded Darwin into publishing his theories of evolu­tion:
from Aristotle to the moderns, we join for a while the
procession of men who have molded the destinies of biology.
There are some among us going up and down the world, shout­ing
of the heroes of biology, cloaking a lack of understanding
with exclamation points. These men have been called popu-larizers
of science, but the phrase is a delusion. Biology has come
of age and we can dispense with the tub- thumpers. What the
science needs is an interpreter, and Peattie today stands almost
unique in this role, for of all who profess, he alone has taken the
time to learn the language and to perfect the idiom.
In some ways Green Laurels is a remarkable book— to me a
more solid, a better written, and a more readable book than his
very delightful Almanac for Moderns; for although crammed
with anecdote it is not a book of personalities, but rather a stimu­lating
and lucid presentation of the spirally expanding universe
of biological thought.
In a time when the world's indecision and discontent are pene­trating
our thinking and clouding our conclusions, it is well to
1 Peattie, Donald Culross, Green Laurels. 368 pages, illustrated. Simon
& Schuster, New York, 1936. $ 3.75.
2 Spelled Altamaha today.
247
know this book. We are fortunate to have Peattie, not so much
to entertain us, not so much to teach us, but to chide us for our
indecision, to cheer us from our discontent, and lead us back into
the green growing forest.
W. H. CAMP.
RAFINESQUE AND H I S FRIENDS
Ninety- six years ago Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, " Prof, of
Historical and Natural Sciences, Languages & c, member of
16 Learned Societies in Europe and America, author of
220 Works, Pamphlets, Essays and Tracts", died in poverty in a
Philadelphia garret. He died alone, deserted by his few friends,
but he is not forgotten. The remarkable details of his tragic life
have been many times retold, and are probably better known to
the scientists of today than those of the lives of any of his
contemporaries.
It is only five years since the publication of James Whaler's
147- page epic " Green River: a Poem for Rafinesque", relating in
fanciful verse some of the outstanding events of his life. The
incidents are of course fictitious, but a sympathetic portrayal of
Rafinesque's character stands out on every page.
And now we have a new contribution to the growing list of
Rafinesquiana, under the title " Rafinesque's Kentucky friends." 3
The occasion for this small volume is the reproduction for the
first time of twenty- five pencil sketches by Rafinesque, showing
his idea of the personal appearance of certain of his friends and
acquaintances. A few were certainly drawn from memory, but
most were from living models, with or without conscious posing.
To the writer of this review they appear to possess little or no
artistic merit; they might almost be termed caricatures. Yet they
deserve to be cherished, if only as evidence of a hitherto unknown
whim of the many- sided genius. More than twelve pages are
taken up with an admirably condensed biography of Rafinesque
himself, which serves as a background for the sketches with
accompanying text that follow.
In view of the fact that the entire volume, including several
blank pages which have been counted in numbering, comprises
only 71 pages, it is difficult to justify either the smallness of the
edition. ( 150 copies) or the largeness of the price ( more than ten
cents per page per copy). The price seems to have been set with
a view to prevent the sale of the entire edition!
Rafinesque's mother was referred to in his autobiography
merely as " M." Schmaltz, and her baptismal name seems hitherto
never to have appeared in print. The sketch of her, however,
3 Weiss, Harry B., Rafinesque's Kentucky friends. 71 pages. Privately
printed. Highland Park, New Jersey, 1936. ( Heartman's Historical Series
No. 49.) $ 7.50. ( Copies may be purchased from Harry B. Weiss, 19 North
7th Ave., Highland Park, New Brunswick, N. J.)
248
drawn from memory, and reproduced on page 27 of this work,
was boldly lettered in full capitals by the artist " Madeleine
Schmaltz". ( Her family was German, and this name was prob­ably
originally Magdalena, translated into French after her mar­riage
to Rafinesque's father.) Why the name should appear
twice on the opposite page as " Madeletne" is incomprehensible.
The ' T", to be sure, looks a little like a " T", but it is not like the
" T" in Schmaltz, while it precisely matches the " I " of Isaac below
the preceding portrait. " Madeletne" is as unreasonable as
" Tsaac" would be. The portrait says that she was born in " Con­stantinople"
; page 7 says, following previous writers, that she was
born in " Greece"; page 26, facing the portrait, says that she was
born in " Constantinople, Greece"! Doubtless the fact is that she
was born, as was her son, in the Greek quarter of Constantinople.
The writer has discovered nowhere between the covers any hint
of the history of the sketches, or of their present location or
ownership. They bear abundant evidence in themselves, however,
of their genuineness. To these few and relatively unimportant
criticisms, we may add that the book is remarkably free from
clerical and typographical errors.
J. H. BARNHART.
SEEDS— AND FRUITS
The hours which Mr. Quinn spent preparing his book on seeds, 4
must have been delightful, for the volume is filled with facts and
quotations of the sort which catch one's fancy and tempt one to
read for hours when glancing through old herbals, books of travel,
and other sources of nature lore. The snatches of information
with which it is crammed have been gleaned from all ages of man
and all sections of the earth. Occasionally the authority for a
quotation is given. Many readers would welcome more frequent
reference to sources.
The decorative illustrations which are scattered through the
text, as well as the reading matter itself, actually deal more with
fruits than with seeds. In fact, the author confesses in his intro­duction
: " To avoid confusion, ' seed' is used in the title, and
occasionally elsewhere, to indicate what is botanically the plant's
fruit." Perhaps nature students, who will undoubtedly enjoy this
book, will understand the purpose, but it seems curious and hardly
acceptable admittedly to call a seed a fruit and a fruit a seed.
There are chapters on shapes of seeds ( and fruits), on how
seeds travel, what they have been used for through the ages,
poisonous seeds, edible fruits and nuts, and superstitions con­cerning
seeds.
CAROL H. WOODWARD.
4 Quinn, Vernon, Seeds: Their Place in Life and Legend. 188 pages,
illustrated. Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York, 1936. $ 2.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, by
Nathaniel Lord Britton and Addison Brown. Three volumes, giving
descriptions and illustrations of 4,666 species. Second edition, re­printed.
$ 13.50.
Flora of the Prairies and Plains of Central North America, by P. A.
Rydberg. 969 pages and 601 figures. 1932. Price, $ 5.50 postpaid.
Plants of the Vicinity of New York, by H. A. Gleason. 284 pages. 1935.
$ 1.65.
Flora of Bermuda, by Nathaniel Lord Britton and others. 585 pages
with 494 text figures. 1918. $ 3.50.
A Text- book of General Lichenology, by Albert Schneider. 230 pages:
76 plates. 1897. $ 2.50.
Mycologia, bimonthly, illustrated in color and otherwise; devoted to
fungi, including lichens, containing technical articles and news and notes
of general interest. $ 6.00 a year; single copies $ 1.25 each. Now in its
twenty- eighth volume. Twenty- four Year Index volume $ 3.00 in paper,
$ 3.50 in fabrikoid.
Addisonia, semi- annual, devoted exclusively to colored plates accom­panied
by popular descriptions of flowering plants; eight plates in each
number, thirty- two in each volume. Subscription price, $ 10.00 a volume
( two years). [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its nineteenth volume.
North American Flora. Descriptions of the wild plants of North Amer­ica,
including Greenland, the West Indies, and Central America. Planned
to be completed in 34 volumes, each to consist of four or more parts; 81
parts now issued. Subscription price, $ 1.50 per part; a limited number of
separate parts will be sold for $ 2.00 each. [ Not offered in exchange.]
Brittonia. A series of botanical papers. Subscription price, $ 5.00 per
volume. Now in its second volume.
Contributions from The New York Botanical Garden. A series of tech­nical
papers written by students or members of the staff, and reprinted
from journals other than the above. Price, 25 cents each. $ 5.00 per vol­ume.
In the fourteenth volume.
Memoirs of The New York Botanical Garden. A collection of scientific
papers. Volumes I- VII. Titles on request.
Journal of The New York Botanical Garden, monthly, containing notes,
news, and non- technical articles. Free to members of the Garden. To
others, 10 cents a copy; $ 1.00 a year. Now in its thirty- seventh volume.
Direct all orders to:
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
Bronx Park, New York, N. Y. ( Fordham Branch Post Office)
DIRECTIONS FOR REACHING THE BOTANICAL GARDEN
The New York Botanical Garden is located in the Bronx, immediately north of the
Zoological Park at Fordham Road, and at the south end of the Bronx River Parkway.
It may be reached by local trains from Grand Central Terminal to the Botanical Garden
Station ( 200th Street).
To reach the Garden by the Elevated and Subway systems, take the Third Avenue Ele­vated
to the end of the line ( Bronx Park Station); from the East and West Side subways,
transfer from the Lexington or Seventh Avenue line to the Third Avenue Elevated at
149th Street and Third Avenue. By Eighth Avenue subway ( Independent system) take a
C or CC train to Bedford Park Boulevard ( 200th Street), then walk east to the Garden.
To come by motor from the city, drive north on Grand Concourse to Bedford Park
Boulevard ( 200th Street); turn east on Bedford Park Boulevard and cross the railroad
bridge into the Garden grounds.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Some of the leading features of The New York Botanical Garden
are:
Four hundred acres of beautifully diversified land in the northern part
of the City of New York, through which flows the Bronx River. A native
hemlock forest is one of the features of the tract.
Plantations of thousands of native and introduced trees, shrubs, and
flowering plants.
Gardens, including a new rock garden, a large rose garden, a perennial
border, small model gardens, and other types of plantings.
Greenhouses, containing thousands of interesting plants from America
and foreign countries.
Flower shows throughout the year— in the spring, summer, and autumn
displays of daffodils, lilacs, irises, peonies, roses, water- lilies, dahlias, and
chrysanthemums; in the winter, displays of greenhouse- blooming plants.
A museum, containing exhibits of fossil plants, existing plant families,
local plants occurring within one hundred miles of the City of New York,
and the economic uses of plants; also historic microscopes.
An herbarium, comprising more than 1,800,000 specimens of American
and foreign species.
Exploration in different parts of the United States, the West Indies,
Central and South America, for the study and collection of the character­istic
flora.
Scientific research in laboratories and in the field into the diversified
problems of plant life.
A library of botanical and horticultural literature, comprising nearly
45,000 books and numerous pamphlets.
Public lectures on a great variety of botanical and horticultural topics,
continuing throughout the autumn, winter and spring.
Publications on botanical subjects, partly of technical, scientific, and
partly of popular, interest.
The education of school children and the public through the above fea­tures
and the giving of free information on botanical, horticultural and
forestral subjects.
The Garden is dependent upon an annual appropriation by the City of
New York, private benefactions, and membership fees. Applications for
membership are always welcome. The classes of membership are:
Annual Member annual fee $ 10
Sustaining Member annual fee 25
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Patron single contribution 5,000
Benefactor single contribution 25,000
Contributions to the Garden may be deducted from taxable incomes. Bequests
may be made in the form of securities, money, or additions to the collections. The
following is an approved form of bequest:
/ hereby bequeath to The New York Botanical Garden incorporated under
the Laws of New York, Chapter 285 of 1891, the sum of %
Conditional bequests may be made with income payable to donor or any
designated beneficiary during his or her lifetime.
Fellowships or scholarships either in perpetuity or limited to a definite period
may be established for practical student- training in horticulture or for botan­ical
research.
All requests for further information should be sent to
T H E N E W YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
BRONX PARK, N E W YORK, N. Y. ( F O R D H A M B R A N C H POST O F F I C E)

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

Lindens in the City of New York and its Vicinity; Palms as Indicators of the Maximum Water Level; The Alphonso Wood Herbarium; A Bisected Tree which Flourishes; Planting Now for Spring Gardens; A Glance at Current Literature; Notes, News, and Comment; Reviews of Recent Books.

VOL. X X X V I I OCTOBER, 1936 No. 442
JOURNAL
OF
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
LINDENS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
AND ITS VICINITY
LEON CROIZAT
PALMS AS INDICATORS OF THE MAXIMUM
WATER LEVEL
JOHN K. SMALL
THE ALPHONSO WOOD HERBARIUM
H. H. RUSBY
A BISECTED TREE WHICH FLOURISHES
PLANTING NOW FOR SPRING GARDENS
ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM
A GLANCE AT CURRENT LITERATURE
CAROL H. WOODWARD
NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT
REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS
INTO THE GREEN GROWING FOREST
W. H. CAMP
RAFINESQUE AND HIS FRIENDS
J. H. BARNHART
SEEDS— AND FRUITS
CAROL H. WOODWARD
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY T H E N E W YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
BRONX PARK, N E W YORK, N. Y. ( FORDHAM BRANCH POST OFFICE)
Entered at the Post Office in New York, N. Y., as second- class matter.
Annual subscription $ 1.00 Single copies 10 cents
Free to members of the Garden
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
B O A R D OF MANAGERS
I. ELECTIVE MANAGERS
Until 1937: HENRY DE FOREST BALDWIN ( Vice- president), CHILDS FRICK,
ADOLPH LEWISOHN, HENRY LOCKHART, JR., D. T. MACDOUGAL, and JOSEPH
R. SWAN.
Until 1938: L. H. BAILEY, MARSHALL FIELD, MRS. ELON HUNTINGTON
HOOKER, JOHN L. MERRILL ( Vice- president and Treasurer), COL. ROBERT H.
MONTGOMERY, H. HOBART PORTER, and RAYMOND H. TORREY.
Until 1939: ARTHUR M. ANDERSON, HENRY W. DE FOREST ( President),
MARSHALL A. HOWE ( Secretary), CLARENCE LEWIS, E. D. MERRILL, HENRY DE
LA MONTAGNE ( Assistant Treasurer), and LEWIS RUTHERFURD MORRIS.
II. EX- OFFICIO MANAGERS
FIORELLO H. LAGUARDIA, Mayor of the City of New York.
ROBERT MOSES, Park Commissioner.
HENRY C. TURNER, President of the Board of Education.
III. APPOINTIVE MANAGERS
TRACY E. HAZEN, appointed by the Torrey Botanical Club.
R. A. HARPER, SAM F. TRELEASE, EDMUND W. SINNOTT, and MARSTON T.
BOGERT, appointed by Columbia University.
G A R D E N STAFF
MARSHALL A. HOWE, P H . D., SC. D Director
H. A. GLEASON, P H . D Deputy Director and Head Curator
HENRY DE LA MONTAGNE Assistant Director
JOHN K. SMALL, P H . D., SC. D Chief Research Associate and Curator
A. B. STOUT, P H . D Director of the Laboratories
FRED J. SEAVER, P H . D., SC. D Curator
BERNARD O DODGE, P H . D Plant Pathologist
FORMAN T. MCLEAN, M. F., P H . D Supervisor of Public Education
JOHN HENDLEY BARNHART, A. M., M. D.. . Bibliographer and Admin. Assistant
PERCY WILSON Associate Curator
ALBERT C. SMITH, P H . D Associate Curator
SARAH H. HARLOW, A. M Librarian
H. H. RUSBY, M. D Honorary Curator of the Economic Collections
FLEDA GRIFFITH Artist and Photographer
ROBERT S. WILLIAMS Research Associate in Bryology
E. J. ALEXANDER Assistant Curator and Curator of the Local Herbarium
HAROLD N. MOLDENKE, P H . D Assistant Curator
W. H. CAMP, P H . D Assistant Curator
CLYDE CHANDLER, A. M Technical Assistant
ROSALIE WEIKERT Technical Assistant
CAROL H. WOODWARD, A. B Editorial Assistant
THOMAS H. EVERETT, N. D. HORT Horticulturist
G. L. WITTROCK, A. M Docent
OTTO DEGENER, M. S Collaborator in Hawaiian Botany
ROBERT HAGELSTEIN Honorary Curator of Myxomycetes
ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM. . Honorary Curator, Iris and Narcissus Collections
WALTER S. GROESBECK Clerk and Accountant
ARTHUR J. CORBETT Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds
A. C. PFANDER Assistant Superintendent
JOURNAL
OF
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
VOL. XXXVII OCTOBER, 1936 Xo. 442
LIXDENS IX THE CITY OF XEW YORK
AXD ITS VICINITY
To the writer's knowledge, fourteen different lindens are
planted or grow native in X'ew York City and its vicinity. The
list of hardy woody plants in The New York Botanical Garden
published in 1920 recorded only three species and four varieties.
Today not less than eight species, or hybrids, thrive in the Garden.
The red linden ( Tilia- rubra), often said not to be in cultiva­tion,
is well represented in the parks, thoroughfares, and gardens
of our city, with numerous specimens not less than fifty years
old. Two varieties of it are cultivated in The New York Botanical
Garden. One, ( T. rubra begoniaefolia), which is seldom if ever
planted ( FIGURE 1), closely agrees with the begonia- leaf linden
( T. begoniacfolia Stev.), originally reported from the Caucasus
and considered by some authors to be a very distinct form of the
red linden. This tree has a firm dark- green leaf which, except for
its size, suggests the leaf of certain basswoods. The other variety
which, from the insufficient data to be gathered on this diffi­cult
species, may be understood as belonging to the type
itself, is commonly seen. Its leaves are yellowish- green,
usually cut heart- wise at the base, and often barely distinguish­able
from the leaves of the common European linden (" T. vul­garis"
of most texts), of which a young specimen thrives in the
Garden. Mature trees of the red and of the common European
linden grow side by side along Riverside Drive between 97th and
99th Streets, and there it can easily be shown that they are not
the same " species." Evidence to this effect may be welcome be­cause
many horticulturists and some botanists believe the contrary
to be true.
Both the red and the common European linden are thrifty trees
but thrive best where moisture is fairly well supplied. Few plants
225
226
are more beautiful than these lindens if set in suitable ground,
as, for instance, in a cool lawn. The common European linden,
particularly, has found the key to a secret that not many trees
have succeeded in learning. It displays a crown that is heavy
and light at the same time, being able to achieve this combination
of opposites because the main branches are built up in fairly even
tiers, arching gracefully and carrying at the tip neat, thick sprays
of dark- green leaves, lying mostly in the same plane and reaching
up and down.
The hairy linden ( Tilia platyphyllos), like the red linden, hails
from Europe and resembles it in sharpness of venation, but is
easily identified by the hairy leaves and by the hard, ribbed fruits.
T. platyphyllos is used more extensively than its thriftiness war­rants,
at least in cities. It cuts a good figure and, indeed, is a
noble tree where the soil is rich and well drained and moisture is
abundant. Dry weather and insufficient watering, however, cause
it to shed its leaves, and the majority of trees in the congested
areas of the city are nearly bare in late August. A specimen of
a cut- leaf variety is cultivated in the Garden. Seeing the tree
one understands why the variety is seldom used in planting. The
jagged blade looks unhealthy, and does not rival even distantly the
elegant leaf of a laciniate maple or beech.
The " Stein- Linden" of the Germans, the small- leaved linden
of early British authors ( T. cordata), is a native of northern
Europe, and there to all appearances an age- old migrant from
Asia. It is one of the commonest, if not the commonest of lindens
in cultivation, and the trade is so well stocked that it is inclined
to supply this even when not requested. The leaf of T. cordata
is small, somewhat square- sided, seldom more than 3 inches long,
mostly bluish underneath, and hairless except for brownish woolly
tufts at the forks of the veins. The small- leaved linden bears many
flowers and large crops of fruits in clusters that tend to lie hori­zontally,
and persist often until late in winter. This habit, com­bined
with the green or yellow buds that contrast with the reddish-brown
color of the tip of the twig, easily identify the species in
its leafless condition. Certain trees have a peculiar aspect on ac­count
of damages from frost. The trunk cracks, and in time stout
limbs often flattened at the sides grow from the wound. An old
tree so damaged stands in Prospect Park, east of the drive at the
foot of the Quaker Cemetery.
227
^ Br^ lsl J949J iPI
W& A
M^ TM
^ USK^ IH
FIGURE 1. 77/ m rubra bcgoniacfolia, growing at The New York Botanical
Garden. This rare tree agrees with the true T. bcgoniacfolia, which has
been described from the Caucasus.
Tilia cordata has been crossed with the hairy linden and with
the red linden. As a result two hybrids have originated and are
on the market: the common European linden (" 7\ vulgaris"), of
which we have spoken, and the glossy linden ( T. cuchlora). In
nine cases out of ten the glossy linden is mistaken for the red
linden, but the confusion has no justification. The two trees are
distinct at least in the color of the bark, also in the aspect and
texture of the leaf. The leaf of the red linden has sharp veins,
an even crisp surface, and woolly tufts. The leaf of the glossy
linden has a marked shine ( hence the common name), bristle- like
tufts, finely etched veins, and in almost all cases an uneven sur­face.
In the glossy linden the bark is generally lighter or much
228
lighter than in the red linden and grayish rather than reddish-brown.
T. cuchlora is not represented in the Garden, but is not
rare in public parks and in gardens, and bobs up in all manner of
surroundings in Prospect Park. The best specimen in the city, if
the writer be correct, thrives half concealed by the horsechestnuts
and the Paulownias just south of the George Washington Bridge
on Riverside Drive. The glossy linden does not succeed in dry,
poor soil: the two sorry trees that were planted before 1903 at
the entrance of Central Park at West 96th Street are left at mid-
August with few if any leaves, and have grown yearly by only
fractions of inches.
The basswood ( 7\ americana) requires but passing mention.
Everybody has seen it wild and planted, but not everyone realizes
how much its leaves can vary. Some trees exhibit large blades
that are yellow- green and easily torn to shreds; other trees have
small, dark- green, firm blades. Although the leaf of the species
has normally many small tufts and is otherwise hairless, certain
trees in Prospect Park have tuftless leaves, and one young speci­men
in Central Park shows sparse hairs not unlike those of
T. platyphyllos. In cultivation only the small- leaved form of the
basswood is satisfactory. The large- leaved form is ungainly and of
coarse aspect. In New Jersey the basswood has been used to
line avenues, but the planting looks more effective in June than in
August.
The gray linden ( T. neglecta) is closely related to the basswood,
and is another tree both native and planted in the Garden. The
gray linden deserves its common name but is manifestly distinct
from the basswood only when the leaf unfolds and shortly there­after.
At that time the blade is more or less thickly beset under­neath
by star- shaped and simple hairs ( the latter always less
numerous), which cause it to appear whitish or grayish. So little
hair, however, is left at the end of the summer that a magnifying
glass is needed to spot it. The fruit of the gray linden varies a
great deal, but is seldom as round and as hairy as that of the
basswood. The basswood and the gray linden have the same lim­ited
value in horticulture and may be considered equivalent. They
are always confused, in fact, with the result that the gray linden,
a species little known even to the botanist, is fairly common in the
parks of the City.
The gray linden, the bee- tree ( Tilia heterophylla) and Michaux's
229
linden ( T. Michauxii) may in a sense be considered forms of the
sam^ species. Michaux's linden is a gray linden with thicker
and more persistent hair and a rounder fruit. The bee- tree is a
Michaux's linden that has light brown tufts which appear when
the leaf unfolds or immediately thereafter. The limits of these
species are not clear. One may surmise that when our lands were
covered by glaciers creeping in from the north the ancestor, or
the ancestors, of the three lindens shuttled back and forth, and
underwent changes that in the long run scrambled all the char­acters
which the student of plant life is accustomed to look for in
" good" species. The bee- tree does not grow in the Garden, not at
least in the form true to the description given by Ventenat, the
" father" of T heterophylla. A good specimen of the species as
described by Ventenat stands at the south of Morningside Park,
close to the wall that runs along Cathedral Parkway. ( Morning-side
Park, by the way, deserves mention as the harbor of the
single true oriental plane, Platanus orientalis, that grows on public
grounds in New York City.) Three mature plants of Michaux's
linden manage to survive at Riverside Drive, about at the level of
103rd Street, and young specimens live in Central Park. Trees
which are probably wild are recorded for Fort Washington Park.
The so- called Moltke or greenish linden ( T. spectabilis), a
hybrid of the basswood with the silvery linden ( T tomentosa),
has tripped many an otherwise learned botanist. The difference
between the two must be acknowledged as trifling indeed, and to
be understood once forever it should be observed on trees that
grow side by side. The greenish linden has many qualities of the
silvery linden— the color of its leaf, its lack of tufts, its fruit; but
the influence of the basswood shows in everything. Thus the
blade is larger than in the silvery linden and is often cut slant­wise
at the base; the hair is scantier, the petiole is longer, the
flower and the fruit are not so small. The greenish linden is
fairly common in cultivation. About two dozen trees have been
used in Prospect Park, mostly near the greenhouse at Ninth
Street and Prospect Park West. One specimen stands in Central
Park almost facing the music stand on the Mall.
Two other hybrids of the basswood have been planted in the
parks of the City, but, like the greenish linden, neither is found
in the Garden. One. the flabby linden ( T flaccida) is the off­spring
of T americana and T. platyphyllos. The other, the flower-
230
ing linden ( 7". floribunda) arose in the combination of T. ameri­cana
with T. cordata.
The flabby linden openly acknowledges its mixed ancestry: it
resembles both its parents, and the horticulturist who plants it
learns in the long run that it has the drawbacks of both. Its habit
is irregular without being pleasing, its leaves are apt to fall early,
its resistance to drought is most limited. A few samples of this
linden, planted, it may be assumed, for T. americana, live in River­side
Park between the levels of 116th and 119th Streets, along
the walk at the foot of the retaining wall.
The flowering linden is a bird of different feather, a clean- cut
tree which, but for its weeping habit and large leaves, brings to
mind the red linden. Its flowers hang in long slender clusters,
and are about as large as those of the basswood and as dainty as
those of the small- leaved linden. Only one tree grows in Pros­pect
Park with the greenish lindens that are planted east of the
greenhouse mentioned above.
The silver linden ( Tilia tomentosa) and the silver weeping lin­den
( T. petiolaris) are found in the Garden in a group in which
two specimens of the former are the largest trees in the collection.
Both of these lindens are native of Europe, particularly of the
Balkans. The difference between them in the main is a matter of
the fruit and of the length of the petiole. The silver weeping
linden has a whiter, less pointed, less sharply ribbed fruit, and
petioles that are always longer than half the blade ( hence the
" weeping" habit of the leaves). Except for these points the two
species are very similar: in both the bark is smooth and grayish,
the blade dark- green above and silvery underneath, the young
growth more or less thickly covered by flat- lying, star- shaped
hairs.
Tilia tomentosa is extensively cultivated, and is one of the best
lindens for planting in cities. It is liable to injury from frost,
and the trunks of the majority of specimens in our part of the
country plainly show the bite of winter. The tree, however, is
never " killed" at the branches, anc! its resistance to drought fully
compensates for its tendency to being tender at the main stem.
Large silver lindens are standing near the Zoo and elsewhere in
Prospect Park.
Tilia petiolaris is unfortunately not common. Under cultivation
it is as reliable as T. tomentosa, and more graceful. Two superb
231
specimens thrive in Prospect Park, one in the small lawn west of
the Litchfield Mansion. Several otherwise good plants scattered
in Prospect and in Central Park have been spoiled by unintelli­gent
grafting: the stock is T. cordata or " T. vulgaris," which
grows less rapidly than the scion. With high grafts the trunks
are marred by unsightly rings, which easily could have been
avoided by budding low.
The Asiatic Lindens are practically unknown in our city. The
numerous Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Mongolian species will
contribute in time, no doubt, to the wealth of our collections and
to the beauty of our gardens. Several peculiar lindens found in
southern China are bound to be tender in our part of the country
but will thrive from the Carolinas to Florida and in California.
The linden knows four main foes: drought, the " red spider"
( Tetranichus tclarius), the black mildew ( fungi of the group
Fumago), and the Japanese beetle. The first two go hand in hand,
and can effectively be checked by irrigation and timely spraying.
The black mildew does little damage beyond soiling the leaves of
the trees it attacks. The Japanese beetle is hungry for lindens and
is increasingly assuming the status of a first- class menace. Nothing
promises to check the pest effectively except the so- called physio­logical
control, which so far does not seem to have been achieved.
Spraying with arsenate of lead still is a costly but necessary
protection.
LEOX CROIZAT.
PALMS AS INDICATORS OF THE MAXIMUM
WATER LEYEL
In southern flatwoods1 and about lakes and ponds where palms
grow, the cabbage- trees ( Sabal Palmetto) usually show a dense
encircling cushion of aerial roots about the base of the trunk. In
some cases this cushion is a few inches high, while in others it
may extend three feet or more up the trunk. A novice viewing
these objects is at a loss to account for the unusual root growth.
but to one accustomed to the peculiarities of such country the
solution is not difficult. The palm- trees do not normally grow in
the water, but are often in places where water rises and remains
about them during wet spells or flood periods. In times of dry
1 Flatwoods are nine woods where the water- table is constantly near the
surface of the ground or over the surface part of each year.
232
FICURE 1. The base of a cabbage- tree showing the aerial root- system, the
top of which indicates the maximum water level. The distance from the
tree's anchorage in the sand to the top of the root- base is between four and
five feet. The roots are aerial in dry weather, aquatic in high- water season.
233
FIGURE ' The base of a Louisiana palmetto�� Sabal Deeringiana— on the
shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Louisiana. The palm stands in a swale where
backwater from the lake and water from heavy rains stand for short periods.
The floodwaters remain long enough to encourage the palm to send out
a series of roots, the upper ones indicating the maximum water level.
234
weather one might well wonder about the origin of these dense
cushions of aerial roots encircling the palm trunks.
Some of the palms are vigorous growers. The cabbage- tree,
for example, responds rapidly to surrounding conditions, as well
as accommodating itself to almost any habitat, favorable or un­favorable.
Certain palms have, by their experiences through the
ages, acquired the ability to develop roots under little provocation.
So, when the water rises above the surface of the ground, the
palm in its desire to continue or accelerate its growth starts a new
set of roots at the base just beneath the temporary high water
level. The roots come out in great numbers and are packed to-
FIGURE 3. The lower part of a trunk and part of the root- system of a
fossil palm— Palmoxylon sp.-— from near Natchitoches, Louisiana. Curiously
enough, this specimen shows that the same habit of developing adventitious
roots existed among the Louisiana palms in geologic times.
235
gether very tightly. They are exceedingly tough cord- like or rope­like
structures, each with a thimble- like protective cap at the apex.
When the water recedes for a time this mass of roots is exposed
to the air and resembles a cushion with myriad nipples. With the
next flooding the roots become active and add growth to the former
accumulation.
An examination will show that the cushions extend higher on
the trunks that stand in the lowest spots. Should an observer be
present during a high water period he will notice that the water
reaches exactly to the top level of all the cushions. So, it would
be quite evident that the root- cushions are the result of the palm
sending out short aerial roots during periods of floodwaters. To
build a house or make a garden below the level of the tops of
these root- cushions would obviously be a mistake— though many
builders, apparently, have never learned this lesson.
The figures from our collection of palm photographs illustrate
the condition involved. The cabbage- tree ( Sabal Palmetto) in
FIGURE 1 is on the shore of Lake Okeechobee, Florida. The fluc­tuation
of the lake- level is often great, being caused indirectly by
the rains in the drainage basin and the damming up of the outlets.
The cushion of roots in this case indicates about four feet in
height. The Louisiana palm ( Sabal Deeringiana) in FIGURE 2 is
on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. The fluctuation
here is not great and is the direct result of rains over and about
the lake.
Louisiana in past geological times had a much larger palm flora
than it has at present. About six species of fossil palms have been
described from within the limits of the state. The palms in those
ancient times had the same habit of producing aerial roots, as is
evidenced by the fossil specimen shown in FIGURE 3. This is a
pretty close duplication of the base of the living species shown in
FIGURE 2. The fossil palms in Louisiana are found largely in the
northwestern part of the state.
JOHN K. SMALL.
THE ALPHONSO WOOD HERBARIUM
Few botanists are now living whose early studies were pursued
under the influence of Wood's " Class Book of Botany.'' largely
used in the seventies, when I began my work. This was emphati­cally
the work of a field botanist, for Dr. Wood was indefatigable
236
as a collector. He was also an active correspondent, and ex­changed
with nearly all the botanical collectors of his time.
Becoming professor of botany in the College of Pharmacy of the
City of New York, he secured time and facilities for carrying on
his botanical work that he would not otherwise have had.
On one occasion, when I spent the afternoon in his company,
he gave me an account of the circumstances and considerations
that led him to undertake the writing of his book. It is sufficient
to say that his motive was not so much that of personal interest
as a feeling that the identities and relations of the plants discussed
were not being accurately presented in the books then in use, and
a desire to make them known as they appeared to him in the
living state.
When Dr. Wood died, he bequeathed his herbarium to the Col­lege
of Pharmacy, where it was greatly neglected for many years.
When the Canby Herbarium was purchased, many of Wood's
specimens were collected from drawers, closets, boxes and bun­dles,
where they had been scattered, and were placed in the Canby
cases. It was evident, however, that these specimens represented
but a part of the Wood Herbarium. Botanists who came to con­sult
them or who wrote for information were unable to find what
they were seeking and we received many expressions of disap­pointment.
Because of this obviously fragmentary state of the
Wood collection, no serious attempt was made to segregate and
arrange it until about two years ago, when we came, in an unex­pected
place, upon several cases containing specimens of this
collection. I then began the segregation and arrangement of the
entire Wood Herbarium, a work to which I have since devoted
my spare time. The classification and nomenclature have been
made to conform, for the most part, with that of the Canby
Herbarium, and the whole should be subjected to a process of
modernization.
By the present arrangement, all specimens of the Wood
Herbarium are enclosed in one or more covers at the end of the
genera to which they respectively belong, each cover bearing a
label, " Alphonso Wood Herbarium," in heavy capitals. The
genera in each family are arranged in alphabetical order, so that
any specimen can be found promptly. It is an unfortunate fact
that an occasional specimen that he is known to have collected
cannot be found.
237
During the progress of this work, some interesting facts have
come to light. The last important collecting done by Dr. Wood
seems to have been along the Pacific Coast and on his journey
there and back. He appears to have traveled with scanty facilities
for collecting, most of his specimens having been made as small as
completeness would permit ( some of them too small), but they
are well preserved and mostly characteristic. Comparatively few
of them are named, as his death occurred before he had an
opportunity for studying them. It is to be hoped that someone
familiar with the Pacific Coast flora will undertake the deter­mination
of this part of the collection. The same is to be said of
a considerable number of specimens from the mountains of Ken­tucky
and Tennessee.
It appears further, from the material that we find, that at the
time of his death, Dr. Wood was engaged in a number of special
studies, notably of Carex. He had collected these plants in heavy
duplication and appears to have been preparing them for ex­change
purposes. The same may be said of his collections of mosses.
H. H. RUSBY.
A BISECTED TREE WHICH FLOURISHES
A tree which bisected itself and lived to tell the tale has been
found on the grounds on the Astoria gas plant of the Consolidated
Edison Company of New York. With some 350 square inches
of heavy wire fence embedded in its trunk, this tree, reported to
be a slippery elm, continues to grow and flourish. The fence— a
cyclone type, nine feet high— also has withstood the unusual con­dition,
and stands as straight today as the day it was erected.
Some twelve to fifteen years ago the tip of the young tree in­serted
itself in one of the meshes of the fence. It looked like
arboreal suicide to observers. Undismayed by its wire entangle­ments,
however, the sapling continued to grow until today it stands
some 25 feet high. The distance from the point at which the
fence emerges from the trunk at the top to the place of emergence
at the bottom is approximately 30 inches. The tree is 17 inches
in diameter at the base. It grows up some 17 inches, then branches
into two sections. The trunk bisected by the fence is 12 inches
in diameter and the other is 7 inches. See the illustration on the
following page.
238
^ P^ BBSMBBBBBBBI
lini
/ ' I.' JJHBB^^ BHI
' i V f l B H
•#-> Wm
IH ^ gHp^ pi^
1 XJff ** V Jwfc> Tffl! 3I^ P3l
riEwanvEK
^ JCIAA'A**^! 1 HX* ji
ia* IH
9BI j) uv'^^ w'jaii T* i^ B^
HB ililff^
Hg BfBP » / v*' fc# SO
KBP&^ ERSP
B| / j j | j
Bi& kl!
A bisected tree which continues its growth without apparent injury at
Astoria, New York.
239
PLANTING NOW FOR SPRING GARDENS*
WITH A SELECTION OF GOOD NARCISSUS VARIETIES
Good gardeners consider several things when they plant, whether
it be bulbs, herbaceous plants, shrubs or just seeds. The most
important thing is what will grow well in the space available. First
we must see what kind of soil we have, how deep it is good, and
note the exposure; that is, whether it will be sunny, semi- shaded
or shaded and if there are adjacent trees. Large trees will naturally
shade the ground later in the season, but we can often put under
them some plants that will give pleasure early in the spring before
the leaves come out.
For this purpose some of the small bulbous plants such as
snowdrops ( Galanthus nivalis), the Siberian squill ( Scilla sibirica),
the snake's- head fritillary ( Fritillaria mcleagris), and winter-aconite
( Eranthis hyemails) may be combined with such ferns as
Christmas fern, which is green all winter; wild maiden- hair fern,
which comes up in springtime and dies down in autumn; epi­mediums,
low plants with heart- shaped leaves reddish on the
margins; or a sedum that will stand shade such as Sedum sannen-tosum.
These are all satisfactory under trees.
We will take it for granted that we have looked about our
gardens last spring, that we noticed where there were suitable
places for spring- flowering bulbs and that we have gone to the
spring flower shows and to specialists' gardens and made a record
of the varieties we desired to add and the quantities necessary. If
we are forehanded, we will have ordered the bulbs before the end
of June. They will probably be delivered to us at the end of
August. If we are not ready to plant them when they arrive, the
bags should be opened and set in a well- ventilated, dry place free
from rats or mice.
Daffodils and the various other small bulbs should be planted
as soon as possible after they come so they can make good root
growth before frost hardens the ground. In preparing the ground,
do not allow manure to be mixed with the soil so that it comes in
contact with the bulbs. I have found dried sheep manure good to
use. I dig the ground well and mix a handful of sheep manure
* An address given by the Honorary Curator of Iris and Narcissus Collec­tions
at The New York Botanical Garden, before the Radio Garden Club of
the Agricultural Extension Service, Rutgers University, over Station WOR,
September 11, 1936.
240
with the very bottom soil in a trench or patch— say two inches of
loosened soil. Then I add two inches of soil without manure, plac­ing
the bulbs on this, and I mix some wood- ashes with the top-soil
that covers the bulbs. This treatment is for exhibition bloom
or for very poor ground. In ordinary good garden soil I use no
fertilizer at all.
Regarding depth to plant, I might add that most bulbs must be
covered once and a half their own depth from the bottom of the
bulb to where the neck begins. Remember this rule and you will
have a safe guide, as bulbs vary in size. If you are planting the
very small ones, such as snowdrops, in a patch— and they look
best this way— take out the soil to the proper depth in the shape
patch you want and place the bulbs. Then cover them carefully
with the soil. You can scatter tiny bulbs, as they do not mind
being on their sides and will right themselves in a year's growth.
Tulips are best planted between the middle and the end of October.
Do not mulch bulbs until the surface of the ground is frozen
hard. This is to keep mice out. The mulch keeps the ground
frozen, then, all winter. It is for protection, and the best mulch
for bulbs is very well- rotted manure, because it acts as a fer­tilizer
as well. Lacking this, salt hay is good. Some people use
excelsior. When leaves are used, they must not be very thick.
Make a simple rough plan of where you have put your bulbs and
keep this plan where you can find it easily next spring; then bring
it out and label the plants. Labels put in beds in autumn get
broken or lost under the mulch or heaved out by frost.
In choosing bulbs try to know the varieties you want, and buy
from well- known, reliable dealers so that you will get things true
to name. Spend your money on a few good varieties rather than
on a lot of trash which you will be throwing away later on. This
is especially necessary with daffodils. Nothing repays the gardener
more than a few of the better varieties. A good selection would
comprise some trumpet varieties— white, bi- colored, and yellow;
some short- cupped— both all yellow and bi- colored ( yellow and
white or yellow with red or reddish cups) ; some flat- cupped vari­eties
of the various color groups; some of the white or Leedsii
group; some poeticus; some bunch- flowered; some double and
some smaller, shorter sorts for the front of the border or rock
garden.
There are many types, heights, and sizes in the eleven groups
241
and their sub- divisions, making hundreds of varieties to select
from, so there is some variety suitable for everyone's taste and
purpose as well as for each pocketbook. Price, however, is based
on rarity, not on quality. One must try to know the good sorts
and get them, perhaps waiting a few years until a coveted gem
has increased enough in quantity to come down in price.
We all know the old trumpet variety, Emperor. This is still
good, and so is Olympia. King Alfred we see often at shows,
but Golden Harvest is better and more reliable, while Mme. van
Waveren is very large and satisfactory. A more dwarf pale-yellow
trumpet is Harvest Moon. This combined with a white or
lavender Phlox subulata or with forget- me- nots makes a delight­ful
picture. One of the earliest of the large, yellow- short- cupped
or incomparabilis daffodils is Helios. This and Henriette are both
excellent. For later, I like Lucinius and Wheel of Fortune, rich
gold and perfectly round flowers which hold their heads up nicely.
Orange Glow is one of the newer, more sensational daffodils
that repays an investment, as is Red Cross. Both of these are
very large flowers on tall stems, one with a frilly cup, the other
plain. Red Cross is good in the garden, as the color in the outer
petals ( the perianth) does not fade. Red- cupped varieties are
usually better if placed where there will be a little shade part of
the day, because our sun is so hot. Croesus, of the flat- cupped or
Barrii group, is still worth while. This is a pale yellow with the
cup flushed orange. In the flat section of the Leedsii a beauty is
Mitylene, which is a very good grower, increasing rapidly, as
nearly all the new kinds do. Tenedos is a handsome white giant
Leedsii.
My favorite double daffodil is Cheerfulness, which comes late
and is white and yellow, always blooming well. There is another
startling double called Mary Copeland, white with red center, a
huge flower on a long stem, and there is a double white named
Daphne that blooms better than the old gardenia- flowered variety.
There are hardy bunch- flowered sorts, but those we see in the
stores for forcing in water are usually kinds that would not stand
our New York winters. Haemon, white and yellow; Thalia, white ;
Fair Alice, golden, and February Gold, a deep gold, are fine. These
are all short, not more than 14 inches high at most.
Whether it be daffodils or crocuses, scillas, tulips or hyacinths,
always feel the bulbs to see if they are firm. Should any be soft
242
or slimy, burn them. They would not grow anyway, and they
might bring disease into your garden. Do not buy mixed bulbs.
The effect will be bad, for they will not all bloom at the same time.
Plant in groups or drifts, trying to get a definite effect and
planning it beforehand. What is planted in autumn is done with
hope and imagination of spring pleasure; in fact, all gardening
has this basis and the results are a thousand unexpected joys.
ETHEL ANSON S. PECKHAM.
A GLANCE AT CURRENT LITERATURE*
Daffodil enthusiasts who are interested in the foreign varieties
which may be made available in this country before long will wel­come
the report of the trial gardens of the Royal Horticultural
Society at Wisley, England. While the behavior of plants in
England does not necessarily indicate what they may be expected
to do in America, the descriptions give a fair evaluation of each
variety over a three- year period. The report appears under the
title, " Narcissi at Wisley, 1934- 36," in the July Journal of the
Royal Horticultural Society.
* # *
The recent work of Dr. Michael Levine at Montefiore Hospital
in New York is explained in an article, " Plant Tumors and their
Relation to Cancer," appearing under his name in The Botanical
Review for September.
* * *
The results of a special study, conducted since 1921 on one of
the largest genera of orchids, has been recently published by the
Botanical Museum at Cambridge, Mass. It is " The Genus Epiden­druni
in the United States and Middle America" by Oakes Ames,
F. Tracy Hubbard, and Charles Schweinfurth. Two hundred
twenty- nine species of Epidendrum are designated.
* * *
" Native and Exotic Palms of Florida" is the title of Bulletin 84
of the Agricultural Extension Service at Gainesville, Florida. The
70 pages, prepared by Harold Mowry, are profusely illustrated.
* All publications mentioned here— and many others— may be found in the
Library of the Botanical Garden, in the Museum Building.
243
Her two- year adventure in locating wild dahlias in Uruapan,
Michoacan, Mexico, is told by Marion Storm in the May Bulletin
of the American Dahlia Society. Dahlia seeds which she sent to
The New York Botanical Garden two years ago produced flower­ing
plants in the dahlia border last year and again this fall. The
flowers are called " charahuscas" in Mexico, she says.
* * *
" Not more than three seed- pods should be allowed to ripen on
a plant," declares Isabella Preston in writing on " Growing Lilies
from Seed" in the September Flower Grower. Miss Preston is
a specialist at the Dominion Central Experiment Farms in Ottawa.
Canada.
In the 1936 Yearbook of Agriculture of the United States De­partment
of Agriculture, which contains 1.200 solidly printed
pages, a bird's- eye view is given of the Government's work in
plant breeding, notably with wheat, barley, oats, rice, corn, sor­ghum,
sugar- cane, sugar beets, cotton, flax, and tobacco.
* * *
" A Study of the Soil" by G. R. Clarke of the University of
Oxford is a miniature volume of 142 pages, describing how a
scientific study of the soil of a given site is made.
CAROL H. WOODWARD.
NOTES, NEWS, AND COMMENT
The collection of plants of Hainan, sent to The New York
Botanical Garden by Sun Yatsen University, China, for identifica­tion
by Dr. E. D. Merrill when he was Director here, has now
been divided into 15 sets, numbering from 900 to 1,500 speci­mens
each, which are being sent out in exchange to institutions in
many other parts of the world. Dr. Merrill completed the naming
of the specimens on week- end visits to New York after com­mencing
his new work at Harvard University.
* * *
Dr. Lewis E. Wehmeyer of the University of Michigan spent
several days recently in the Mycological Herbarium of The New
York Botanical Garden studying certain groups of fungi.
244
Stopping in New York on their way back to England, Will
Ingwersen and J. R. G. Drake, horticulturists and plant collectors,
visited the Botanical Garden after a trip through western United
States.
Another recent visitor to the Garden was Samuel Higbee Camp
of Jackson, Mich., who has been in New York exhibiting the
" transparent woman" at the Museum of Science and Industry in
Rockefeller Center. Forty years ago, Mr. Camp was an occasional
contributor to botanical literature, and his works are contained in
the Library of the Botanical Garden. He has a private herbarium
of 3,000 specimens, collected in Michigan and in places where he
has traveled.
The following visiting botanists have enrolled in the library dur­ing
the summer:
Dr. E. D. Merrill, Cambridge, Mass.; Mr. Don B. Creager,
Boston, Mass.; Dr. Gertrude S. Burlingham, Newfane, Vt.; Prof.
H. H. Whetzel and Mr. M. C Richards, Ithaca, N. Y.; Prof.
Edgar T. Wherry, Philadelphia, Pa.; Dr. Edward H. Graham,
Pittsburgh, Pa.; Prof. Orland E. White, University, Va.; Prof.
F. A. Varrelman, Prof. M. A. Raines and Dr. Miriam L. Bom-hard,
Washington, D. C; Air. John V Watkins, Gainesville, Fla.;
Prof. L. R. Hesler and Prof. Stanley A. Cain, Knoxville, Tenn.;
Dr. Ernst J. Schreiner, Norris, Tenn.; Dr. Dorothy Parker, Cin­cinnati,
Ohio; Prof. L. E. Wehmeyer, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Prof.
C Mervin Palmer, Indianapolis, Ind.; Mr. C Y. Chiao, Madi­son,
Wis.; Prof. H. E. McMinn, Oakland, Calif., and Dr. Frans
Verdoorn, Leyden, Holland.
Asiatic garden beetles are most effectively trapped by a blue
light inserted in a funnel containing four wings at right- angles
and leading to a glass jar from which the beetles cannot escape,
once they have fallen in. Where other bright lights interfere, a
G- 5 mercury vapor light, which requires a special socket, is found
most effective; otherwise a 100- watt blue daylight bulb will attract
the beetles, government investigators have recently reported.
245
A gold medal " For Service to Dahlia" was awarded to Dr. Mar­shall
A. Howe at the annual dinner of the American Dahlia Society
at the Pennsylvania Hotel September 23. The presentation was
made by George W. Fraser, president of the society.
* * *
Dr. Kiichi Miyake, professor of botany at the College of Agri­culture
of Tokyo Imperial University, Japan, spent September 25
at the Botanical Garden, after attending the Harvard Tercentenary
celebration. From 1900 to 1902 Dr. Miyake studied at Cornell
University, and visited this country again during 1910. Coining
by way of Europe on his present trip, he is returning to Japan
across the Pacific.
Dr. Frans Verdoorn, editor of Chronica Botanica, and also sec­retary
of the botanical section of the International Union of Bio­logical
Sciences, spent several days at the Garden during Septem­ber,
after nearly three months of motoring over the United States,
visiting bryological herbaria and meeting the American collabo­rators
of Chronica Botanica. He is returning to Holland this
month, after visiting botanical institutions in the eastern cities.
* * *
Henry Teuscher, who is now Superintendent and Chief Horti­culturist
of the Montreal Botanic Garden, returned to The New
York Botanical Garden for a few days in September. Frere
Marie- Victorin, Scientific Director of the Montreal Botanic Gar­den,
joined him here September 28, and the two returned almost
immediately to Montreal, carrying back many new plants for their
institution. This new botanical garden, which is being developed
according to plans drawn up by Mr. Teuscher, has recently had
an appropriation of $ 200,000 for the construction of roads, a
drainage system, and other features.
246
REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS
( All publications reviewed here may be consulted in the Library of
The New York Botanical Garden.)
INTO T H E GREEN GROWING FOREST
. . . " This is the story of man facing his world— man in his
nakedness, abstract curiosity glittering in his simian pupils as he
stares at the wall of the primeval wood and listens to its sounds,
and wonders." . . .
Donald Culross Peattie's latest book1— Green Laurels— is a
treatise on intellectual curiosity, yet it is so much more that it
defies pigeon- holing. It is not a series of biographies— fortunately;
for I am not interested in where Linnaeus spent the 16th day of
June in 1752; I want to know the man himself. Peattie has given
us such an insight, for he has not been content merely to give
us a description of Linneaus' field trips with his students, but has
taken us along, and for a brief time we are a part of the world of
Linnaeus, and think his thoughts; we stand with Bartram on the
banks of the Alatamaha2 and view for the first and last time in
the wild the almost fabulous Franklinia; we sit by the side of
Wallace that hot feverish night in Ternate when he dreamed the
dreams that prodded Darwin into publishing his theories of evolu­tion:
from Aristotle to the moderns, we join for a while the
procession of men who have molded the destinies of biology.
There are some among us going up and down the world, shout­ing
of the heroes of biology, cloaking a lack of understanding
with exclamation points. These men have been called popu-larizers
of science, but the phrase is a delusion. Biology has come
of age and we can dispense with the tub- thumpers. What the
science needs is an interpreter, and Peattie today stands almost
unique in this role, for of all who profess, he alone has taken the
time to learn the language and to perfect the idiom.
In some ways Green Laurels is a remarkable book— to me a
more solid, a better written, and a more readable book than his
very delightful Almanac for Moderns; for although crammed
with anecdote it is not a book of personalities, but rather a stimu­lating
and lucid presentation of the spirally expanding universe
of biological thought.
In a time when the world's indecision and discontent are pene­trating
our thinking and clouding our conclusions, it is well to
1 Peattie, Donald Culross, Green Laurels. 368 pages, illustrated. Simon
& Schuster, New York, 1936. $ 3.75.
2 Spelled Altamaha today.
247
know this book. We are fortunate to have Peattie, not so much
to entertain us, not so much to teach us, but to chide us for our
indecision, to cheer us from our discontent, and lead us back into
the green growing forest.
W. H. CAMP.
RAFINESQUE AND H I S FRIENDS
Ninety- six years ago Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, " Prof, of
Historical and Natural Sciences, Languages & c, member of
16 Learned Societies in Europe and America, author of
220 Works, Pamphlets, Essays and Tracts", died in poverty in a
Philadelphia garret. He died alone, deserted by his few friends,
but he is not forgotten. The remarkable details of his tragic life
have been many times retold, and are probably better known to
the scientists of today than those of the lives of any of his
contemporaries.
It is only five years since the publication of James Whaler's
147- page epic " Green River: a Poem for Rafinesque", relating in
fanciful verse some of the outstanding events of his life. The
incidents are of course fictitious, but a sympathetic portrayal of
Rafinesque's character stands out on every page.
And now we have a new contribution to the growing list of
Rafinesquiana, under the title " Rafinesque's Kentucky friends." 3
The occasion for this small volume is the reproduction for the
first time of twenty- five pencil sketches by Rafinesque, showing
his idea of the personal appearance of certain of his friends and
acquaintances. A few were certainly drawn from memory, but
most were from living models, with or without conscious posing.
To the writer of this review they appear to possess little or no
artistic merit; they might almost be termed caricatures. Yet they
deserve to be cherished, if only as evidence of a hitherto unknown
whim of the many- sided genius. More than twelve pages are
taken up with an admirably condensed biography of Rafinesque
himself, which serves as a background for the sketches with
accompanying text that follow.
In view of the fact that the entire volume, including several
blank pages which have been counted in numbering, comprises
only 71 pages, it is difficult to justify either the smallness of the
edition. ( 150 copies) or the largeness of the price ( more than ten
cents per page per copy). The price seems to have been set with
a view to prevent the sale of the entire edition!
Rafinesque's mother was referred to in his autobiography
merely as " M." Schmaltz, and her baptismal name seems hitherto
never to have appeared in print. The sketch of her, however,
3 Weiss, Harry B., Rafinesque's Kentucky friends. 71 pages. Privately
printed. Highland Park, New Jersey, 1936. ( Heartman's Historical Series
No. 49.) $ 7.50. ( Copies may be purchased from Harry B. Weiss, 19 North
7th Ave., Highland Park, New Brunswick, N. J.)
248
drawn from memory, and reproduced on page 27 of this work,
was boldly lettered in full capitals by the artist " Madeleine
Schmaltz". ( Her family was German, and this name was prob­ably
originally Magdalena, translated into French after her mar­riage
to Rafinesque's father.) Why the name should appear
twice on the opposite page as " Madeletne" is incomprehensible.
The ' T", to be sure, looks a little like a " T", but it is not like the
" T" in Schmaltz, while it precisely matches the " I " of Isaac below
the preceding portrait. " Madeletne" is as unreasonable as
" Tsaac" would be. The portrait says that she was born in " Con­stantinople"
; page 7 says, following previous writers, that she was
born in " Greece"; page 26, facing the portrait, says that she was
born in " Constantinople, Greece"! Doubtless the fact is that she
was born, as was her son, in the Greek quarter of Constantinople.
The writer has discovered nowhere between the covers any hint
of the history of the sketches, or of their present location or
ownership. They bear abundant evidence in themselves, however,
of their genuineness. To these few and relatively unimportant
criticisms, we may add that the book is remarkably free from
clerical and typographical errors.
J. H. BARNHART.
SEEDS— AND FRUITS
The hours which Mr. Quinn spent preparing his book on seeds, 4
must have been delightful, for the volume is filled with facts and
quotations of the sort which catch one's fancy and tempt one to
read for hours when glancing through old herbals, books of travel,
and other sources of nature lore. The snatches of information
with which it is crammed have been gleaned from all ages of man
and all sections of the earth. Occasionally the authority for a
quotation is given. Many readers would welcome more frequent
reference to sources.
The decorative illustrations which are scattered through the
text, as well as the reading matter itself, actually deal more with
fruits than with seeds. In fact, the author confesses in his intro­duction
: " To avoid confusion, ' seed' is used in the title, and
occasionally elsewhere, to indicate what is botanically the plant's
fruit." Perhaps nature students, who will undoubtedly enjoy this
book, will understand the purpose, but it seems curious and hardly
acceptable admittedly to call a seed a fruit and a fruit a seed.
There are chapters on shapes of seeds ( and fruits), on how
seeds travel, what they have been used for through the ages,
poisonous seeds, edible fruits and nuts, and superstitions con­cerning
seeds.
CAROL H. WOODWARD.
4 Quinn, Vernon, Seeds: Their Place in Life and Legend. 188 pages,
illustrated. Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York, 1936. $ 2.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, by
Nathaniel Lord Britton and Addison Brown. Three volumes, giving
descriptions and illustrations of 4,666 species. Second edition, re­printed.
$ 13.50.
Flora of the Prairies and Plains of Central North America, by P. A.
Rydberg. 969 pages and 601 figures. 1932. Price, $ 5.50 postpaid.
Plants of the Vicinity of New York, by H. A. Gleason. 284 pages. 1935.
$ 1.65.
Flora of Bermuda, by Nathaniel Lord Britton and others. 585 pages
with 494 text figures. 1918. $ 3.50.
A Text- book of General Lichenology, by Albert Schneider. 230 pages:
76 plates. 1897. $ 2.50.
Mycologia, bimonthly, illustrated in color and otherwise; devoted to
fungi, including lichens, containing technical articles and news and notes
of general interest. $ 6.00 a year; single copies $ 1.25 each. Now in its
twenty- eighth volume. Twenty- four Year Index volume $ 3.00 in paper,
$ 3.50 in fabrikoid.
Addisonia, semi- annual, devoted exclusively to colored plates accom­panied
by popular descriptions of flowering plants; eight plates in each
number, thirty- two in each volume. Subscription price, $ 10.00 a volume
( two years). [ Not offered in exchange.] Now in its nineteenth volume.
North American Flora. Descriptions of the wild plants of North Amer­ica,
including Greenland, the West Indies, and Central America. Planned
to be completed in 34 volumes, each to consist of four or more parts; 81
parts now issued. Subscription price, $ 1.50 per part; a limited number of
separate parts will be sold for $ 2.00 each. [ Not offered in exchange.]
Brittonia. A series of botanical papers. Subscription price, $ 5.00 per
volume. Now in its second volume.
Contributions from The New York Botanical Garden. A series of tech­nical
papers written by students or members of the staff, and reprinted
from journals other than the above. Price, 25 cents each. $ 5.00 per vol­ume.
In the fourteenth volume.
Memoirs of The New York Botanical Garden. A collection of scientific
papers. Volumes I- VII. Titles on request.
Journal of The New York Botanical Garden, monthly, containing notes,
news, and non- technical articles. Free to members of the Garden. To
others, 10 cents a copy; $ 1.00 a year. Now in its thirty- seventh volume.
Direct all orders to:
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
Bronx Park, New York, N. Y. ( Fordham Branch Post Office)
DIRECTIONS FOR REACHING THE BOTANICAL GARDEN
The New York Botanical Garden is located in the Bronx, immediately north of the
Zoological Park at Fordham Road, and at the south end of the Bronx River Parkway.
It may be reached by local trains from Grand Central Terminal to the Botanical Garden
Station ( 200th Street).
To reach the Garden by the Elevated and Subway systems, take the Third Avenue Ele­vated
to the end of the line ( Bronx Park Station); from the East and West Side subways,
transfer from the Lexington or Seventh Avenue line to the Third Avenue Elevated at
149th Street and Third Avenue. By Eighth Avenue subway ( Independent system) take a
C or CC train to Bedford Park Boulevard ( 200th Street), then walk east to the Garden.
To come by motor from the city, drive north on Grand Concourse to Bedford Park
Boulevard ( 200th Street); turn east on Bedford Park Boulevard and cross the railroad
bridge into the Garden grounds.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Some of the leading features of The New York Botanical Garden
are:
Four hundred acres of beautifully diversified land in the northern part
of the City of New York, through which flows the Bronx River. A native
hemlock forest is one of the features of the tract.
Plantations of thousands of native and introduced trees, shrubs, and
flowering plants.
Gardens, including a new rock garden, a large rose garden, a perennial
border, small model gardens, and other types of plantings.
Greenhouses, containing thousands of interesting plants from America
and foreign countries.
Flower shows throughout the year— in the spring, summer, and autumn
displays of daffodils, lilacs, irises, peonies, roses, water- lilies, dahlias, and
chrysanthemums; in the winter, displays of greenhouse- blooming plants.
A museum, containing exhibits of fossil plants, existing plant families,
local plants occurring within one hundred miles of the City of New York,
and the economic uses of plants; also historic microscopes.
An herbarium, comprising more than 1,800,000 specimens of American
and foreign species.
Exploration in different parts of the United States, the West Indies,
Central and South America, for the study and collection of the character­istic
flora.
Scientific research in laboratories and in the field into the diversified
problems of plant life.
A library of botanical and horticultural literature, comprising nearly
45,000 books and numerous pamphlets.
Public lectures on a great variety of botanical and horticultural topics,
continuing throughout the autumn, winter and spring.
Publications on botanical subjects, partly of technical, scientific, and
partly of popular, interest.
The education of school children and the public through the above fea­tures
and the giving of free information on botanical, horticultural and
forestral subjects.
The Garden is dependent upon an annual appropriation by the City of
New York, private benefactions, and membership fees. Applications for
membership are always welcome. The classes of membership are:
Annual Member annual fee $ 10
Sustaining Member annual fee 25
Garden Club Membership annual fee for a club 25
Fellowship Member annual fee 100
Member for Life single contribution 250
Fellow for Life single contribution 1,000
Patron single contribution 5,000
Benefactor single contribution 25,000
Contributions to the Garden may be deducted from taxable incomes. Bequests
may be made in the form of securities, money, or additions to the collections. The
following is an approved form of bequest:
/ hereby bequeath to The New York Botanical Garden incorporated under
the Laws of New York, Chapter 285 of 1891, the sum of %
Conditional bequests may be made with income payable to donor or any
designated beneficiary during his or her lifetime.
Fellowships or scholarships either in perpetuity or limited to a definite period
may be established for practical student- training in horticulture or for botan­ical
research.
All requests for further information should be sent to
T H E N E W YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
BRONX PARK, N E W YORK, N. Y. ( F O R D H A M B R A N C H POST O F F I C E)